KABUL, Afghanistan — Seven people were killed Sunday evening when a bus struck a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan, the latest casualties in Afghanistan’s rising toll of civilian dead.

As many as 14 other Afghans were wounded in the blast in Paktia Province. (more…)

BERLIN — A top German general said Thursday that a NATO investigation of an airstrike against a pair of hijacked Afghan tanker trucks showed the attack was appropriate even though it led to civilian casualties.

Gen. Wolfgang Schneiderhan, who is the general inspector of the German army, also said that the exact death toll could no longer be confirmed. (more…)

Sameer Ahmad Tahseen, a Kabul university student, was at his home in Kunduz province when dozens of people were killed by a Nato air strike last Friday.

He describes the anger among local residents following the attack.

I heard about the incident in the mosque. But the reports were all confused and it wasn’t clear what exactly happened.

Later on I learned more details from my father who is the editor in chief of a local newspaper.

I went to the main hospital in Kunduz straight away. The security was tight, they were not letting anyone in – only close relatives of the injured. There were many villagers from the village where the strike happened. There must have been around 60 to 80 people gathered there. (more…)

A German commander who ordered an air strike on fuel tankers that killed dozens of Afghans used intelligence from a single observer in a possible breach of tactical rules.

An American warplane dropped 500lb bombs on the tankers after they were hijacked by Taliban militants and then became stuck in a river.

Reports suggested dozens of civilians could have been burned alive alongside the militants as villagers crowded round the lorries to collect fuel before the bombs struck in northern Kunduz province. (more…)

BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen pledged on Friday to conduct a thorough investigation into an air bombing that killed dozens of people in Afghanistan.

“The Afghan people should know that we are clearly committed to protecting them and that we will fully and immediately investigate this incident,” Rasmussen told reporters in Brussels.

“Certainly, a number of Taliban were killed,” said the former Danish prime minister, who took office last month. “There is also the possibility of civilian casualties as well, but it is not yet clear.”

The NATO air strike destroyed two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in Afghanistan’s volatile northern Kunduz province, igniting a fireball that officials said killed between 50 and 90 people — mostly insurgents. (more…)

BAGHDAD, Sept 1 (Reuters) – The number of civilians recorded killed in violence in Iraq shot up to 393 in August, its highest level since April, after a spate of huge bombings caused carnage in Baghdad and northern Iraq.

Figures from the ministry of health showed a big increase on last month’s 224 violent deaths in Iraq. The figure was also slightly higher than the 382 killed in August last year. (more…)